All Was Right With The World
by Cenobia Vigantzky
Summary: The battle of Holminster Switch is over. Night is returned to Lakeland, yet celebrating is the furthest thing from the Elise, Warrior of Light and Archmage by vocation's mind. There are things to be said and feelings to be reaffirmed. F!WoL x Alisaie.


A sigh escaped the Warrior of Light's lips while she walked through the busy corridors and plazas of the Crystarium. The cheers of the people, rejoicing as they saw the night sky for the first time, was lost in the distances of her mind. The battle was won, for now. But there was still much to be done.

There was always much to be done.

That's not to say she wouldn't rest like G'raha Tia bade her to. But there was something gnawing at her to be done beforehand, something she'd been wishing to do from the moment her hazel eyes met blue ones again, when she felt the soothing presence of her aether amidst the blinding light of Ahm Araeng. It might not be the best time, but it is _a_ time. A precious commodity in her life for years now.

She caught the mass of snow-white hair near one of the railings, looking off in the distance. An unbidden smile faintly etched itself into her features as the gentle aetheric breeze from her best friend's soul fluttered against hers when she joined her, looking at the night sky.  
"Hey Ali."  
"Hey Eli."  
They were soft whispers, barely audible over the cacophony in the distance. But they were enough. Moments passed in comfortable silence between them, but she couldn't put it off any longer.  
"Can we talk?"  
"About Tesleen?" The younger woman asked, her eyes downcast. Her brother had already accosted her about it, but she'd said the same thing as she was about to say to her friend and confidant: Not now.  
"No."

Blue eyes searched for hazel, but found them still aimed at the distance, at something that wasn't and would never actually be there.  
"There's a lot I've wanted to talk with you about before all that. A lot I need to explain." Elise finally met Alisaie's eyes, the weariness in them both put aside for the moment.  
"Hmm. That is true." She remembered her surprise when instead of the powerful, reassuring crack of summoned stone, the Warrior of Light's targets were taken apart by myriad bolts of light, a distressing high-pitched sound that she did not feel comfortable with just yet.

The walk to the Pendants was made in silence, even if halfway though their hands had found one another's. Why, neither could tell. Neither asked.

The room assigned to the Warrior of Light was spacious, lacking not for furnishing nor food. Other than her backpack in the corner, it was also seemingly untouched until now.  
Footwear discarded near the door, both women sat on the bed, leaning against the wall and eachother. Elise seemed to slowly deflate as she sighed and leaned her head back, and for a moment her friend thought she might have fallen asleep then and there.  
"Where to even begin." The thoughts swirled in her mind, so many needing to be freed yet with no true way to put them together.  
"How about the change in your repertoire? I thought you fancied your tried and true Conjury spells?" She extended her hand in the air between them, a little ritual they'd started what felt like years ago. For her, it was. A small smile made its way to her lips when the older woman placed her own hand on top of hers almost automatically, their fingers entwining before coming to rest together between them.

"I did. When I first arrived here, I tried using them the moment I saw G'raha. And instead of him being encased in stone and shattered, all that happened was me nailing him in the head with some pebbles. World's strongest Mage, ladies and gentleman." She scoffed a bitter laugh, absentmindedly shaking her head.  
There was much to be processed in her friend's sentence, but one thing stuck out to her.  
"G'raha?"  
"Right, the Exarch didn't tell all of you his name, did he. G'raha Tia, a Miqo'te I know from the source. Long story short, thanks to his Allagan blood, he sealed the Crystal Tower once me and the Fellowship of Noah had finished exploring it. With himself inside." Elise's head slowly tipped to the side, raven black and snow white hairs leaning against eachother.  
"That's- That actually answers a lot of questions." Alisaie pondered. "And creates new ones. But anyroad, you said your usual offensive spells were weakened?"  
"That they were. Good thing canes make for decent makeshift maces. I bet the side of his head is smarting to this day." The Warrior of Light grinned predatorily, before softening into a wistful smile while she watched her companion laugh heartily at the imagined scene.

Once her friend had recovered, she continued.  
"I do not know if it's because of the dearth of anything but light-aspected aether in this shard, but I simply cannot wield earth and wind like I used to. So, I made do with light." Her tone clearly told she wasn't entirely happy about that.  
"But it should be resolved once you're back on the Source, should it not? Did it affect your other spells at all?" The Warrior of Light was an Archmage after all. If the issue is too great, perhaps focusing on her other schools of magic would be best...  
"They are unaffected as far as I can tell. I am not sure why. As for the Source-"  
Elise took a deep breath, gripping Alisaie's hand a bit tighter.

"I've tried. I returned to the Source and tested." Her other hand extended before the two, a mote of air on its palm. Yet no matter how much aether was channeled, it refused to grow. With a sigh, even that mote disappeared.  
"Seems to be permanent. Or at least not revert quickly."  
"I see." The elezen pondered for a while, gazing into her friend's expression. Trepidation, frustration, annoyance. But more than anything, weariness.  
"We should find a way to fix it once this is all done." There wasn't much she could do, but reassure that they'd try.  
"I'm not so sure. Can you- close your eyes for a second?"

It was rare to hear such uncertainty in the Warrior of Light's voice, but then again, when they were alone like this, she was not the defender of the realm, the slayer of gods, the liberator of countries. She seemed to let herself be just Elise, a person like all of them. And so, Alisaie did as she was asked.  
The unmistakable sound of steel slicing flesh cut the silence a moment after, jolting her eyes open in panic, which was then compounded by the sight of a deep gash on her friend's arm that held her hand. Said friend that was just putting down a knife she seemed to have acquired from the very aether.  
"WHAT ARE YOU DO-"  
Her words slowly died when she saw that there was no blood at all. In fact, while she could clearly see inside the wound, instead of flesh and bone, there was just light. A light that even as she watched slowly worked to mend the cut, small flecks of aether floating into the air from it.

The older woman was silent as she gauged her companion's reactions. Not a single healing spell uttered, or salve used.

Alisaie's gut felt more frozen than the harshest Ishgardian wilderness. Having lost Tesleen to the light was bad enough, but Elise? No, that could not be. It would not be allowed. She- She wouldn't be able to go on.

"It's always been like this. Ever since I can remember." Her words were faint, but just enough to pull Alisaie out of her panic. Instead, came confusion and anger.  
"What do you mean!?"  
"Have you ever, in the years we've fought together, seen me actually bleed?" Hazel eyes bore into blue ones, unwavering determination behind them. She had to tell everything. She couldn't hide things from the person she cared the most anymore.  
The anger dissipated under a look of concentration, followed by growing disbelief. Try as she might, even in her memories where the Warrior of Light was in her most heinous of battles, there was not a drop that she could remember. Plenty of her enemies, but as for the woman herself; nary a one.

A pregnant pause hung in the air, as acceptance was found. So her friend was not turning into a Sin Eater, but then what-?  
"I've always thought- that I don't know, you just healed herself so fast we could not notice." The thought sounded sheepish to her now, but facing her was the most skilled healer she'd ever known. It was easy to just assume she was simply that good.  
Elise shook her head sadly, though a small hint of pride at her friend's words seeped through in a faint smile. "I am not quite that fast. But healing spells do help."  
To prove her point, she whispered one of her oldest spells, the light around her wound intensifying and near instantly closing, leaving not even a scar.  
Alisaie giggled despite herself, resting her back against the wall again and smiling at her closest friend in half disbelief.  
"So, the big secret was what, that you're immortal? You'll forgive me for being relieved."  
The hyur chuckled in response, the smile not quite reaching her eyes. "Not immortal, no. In fact, I've died several times. Used to it at this point, though it's never pleasant."

She waited for the rest of the joke to come. Instead all she got was a despondent smile and tired eyes. So very, very tired.  
"You've what."

It wasn't a question, not really. Yet every moment she kept staring at her friend, the more her heart tightened. Tears threatened to break forth, and she didn't even understand why. But she had to know. Her voice wavered.  
"What do you mean?"  
The Warrior of Light cast her eyes down, hugging her legs and resting her chin on her knees. Alisaie's hand felt about as cold as her body did.  
"The first time was- gods, years ago now. When I first fought Garuda, the Ixali primal. Me and the group of adventurers I came with were just not ready. Her attacks were too strong, her maneuvering too complex. One by one, they fell. And eventually, so did I." Her voice was down to a soft whisper by now.  
"When I came to, I was standing in the aetheryte plaza, in Gridania. Hale and whole, like nothing happened. It was the day before the battle, somehow. I do not know if the aether that composed my body before got recycled into the new one, or-"  
She let out a deep sigh, trying to stomach the very concept she was about to describe.

"Or if my soul possessed an innocent body and morphed it back into mine."

Alisaie couldn't help but make the obvious comparison before thinking.

"Like an Ascian."

By now Elise had hid her face into her legs and arms, only the movement of her ponytail showing the slight nod of her head.

Minutes passed, though they felt like hours. Eventually, the younger of the two gently took her friend's hand in hers, fingers entwining again. She didn't feel any resistance.  
"Well, this just means you're still you. And I'm not one to back down on my word." White hair met black again.  
"Together until the end no matter what, remember?"

'twas if a dam broke inside the Warriof of Light's heart. Slowly, shakily, she turned around to nestle her face against the furry collar of Alisaie's jacket. There were no tears, just deep shuddery breaths while she gripped her companion close, as if afraid the woman would float away.  
"Gods, I've missed you. So that much it hurt." The elezen gently removed the hairband that kept Elise's ponytail in place, letting her smooth hair fall down her shoulders before gently caressing the back of her neck and roots of her hair.  
"I'm fairly sure that is supposed to be my line." For the first time in what felt like forever, the mirth was back in her voice, at least to some extent. It was the effect this woman had on her, to make it seem like no matter how bad things got, everything would be fine in the end; simply by her presence.  
It was then than she noticed something that genuinely made her smile in amusement.

"You're purring." Alisaie's voice was half disbelief, half wonderment.

A few seconds passed while she noticed her companion's ears going red.  
"So?"  
"You've never told me you had miqo'te ancestry."  
More silence.  
"I don't."  
Alisaie's smile grew larger. "Gods, you're adorable."  
She could feel the pout against her neck.  
"I'm finally with the one person in this godsdamned world or any other that makes me feel relaxed and happy. The person that until a few days ago I though I might have lost forever. Again. So yeah, I'll purr however much I want."  
"Hmm, that's fair. I can certainly relate." She took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the Warrior of Light. It was hard to place, a mix of many things. But under it all there was something unmistakably hers that was always soothing and exciting at the same time.

It wasn't long before Elise was yawning, and Alisaie was not far behind. The sounds of commemoration had started to die down outside, inebriated patrons stumbling down side streets and tables being left empty.  
"You know, we need to get you out of that armour so you can rest." She herself had already kicked off her boots to the ground a while ago.  
"Don't want to. If I go to sleep, tomorrow will come and everything will start all over again. 'd rather stay like this forever." The white-haired woman sighed warmly, not really being able to fault her friend's wish, but knowing that tomorrow would come just the same.  
"It does have some pretty hard padding that has been digging into my ribs for quite a while now." It was a lie, but it got the job done. The older of the two resignedly sat up properly, stretching her arms overhead and was just about to unlatch one of the clasps when a thought came to mind.

"Oh hells, you already know anyroad. Sod this."

Alisaie raised an eyebrow while she watched her dearest person simply snap her fingers theatrically, the whole set of armour dissipating into a quick vortex of aether and being instantly replaced by soft-looking shorts and a nightshirt. Blue eyes bore into her wide open.  
"Hold on, you can just do that!? Just- teleport clothes on yourself!?" Her voice was the very picture of indignation. "Is that how you're always ready to go so quickly?"  
The Warrior of Light looked back at her best friend, an expression of bewilderment slowly morphing into restrained, and soon after unrestrained; hysterics. Which seemingly only served to infuriate the elezen even further.  
"Stop laughing! It's just not fair!" And yet, despite herself, she soon followed in the laughter, although not quite to the extent of the other woman, by now howling and in tears while smacking the soft mattress to try and catch her breath back.

"I apologize, I just-" Her explanation was stopped by another bout of giggling, seemingly refreshed every time she looked at Alisaie, who by now had crossed her arms and was simply staring at Elise in disbelief.  
"Do go on, this better be good then." The smile that couldn't quite leave her face betrayed any seriousness in her demand.  
"It is merely that- I reveal all of that, and the one thing you take offense to is me having the ability to summon clothing. I can't-" She shook her head in mirth, looking the happiest she'd been in- ever, looking back.  
Alisaie merely smirked smugly. "But of course, some things are simply more important than others."  
The Warrior of Light took her friend's hand in hers again, looking at their twined fingers affectionately before hazel orbs found blue ones and stayed there, lost in the moment.  
"In that you're right." She whispered, their faces slowly inching closer until their foreheads met. For a long moment, that's how they stayed, simple enjoying eachother's breath and warmth. Determination slowly built inside them, the need to not let this night end just yet.

"I-"  
"I l-"

Two faces watched eachother going red of embarrassment, the younger of the two breaking eye contact first and sliding her face to nestle into the crook of the other's neck, conveniently out of sight but within whispering distance.  
"How are we so _daft_ at this?"  
Her response was a chuckle, followed by Elise cupping her cheek with a hand, moving her gently so she could look at Alisaie once again.  
"That I do not know. But as long as I can be daft at your side, that is all I wish for."  
There was no reason to contain their smiles before their lips touched.

Two souls in love were together, all was right with the world.


End file.
